Previously:

"O for Eru's sake," Arianeth cursed under her breath when they saw the empty throne. Nothing, literally nothing, was going smoothly these days. Where was King Thranduil?

~*~*~*~*~

Narsil rolled her shoulders and moved her head to loosen her neck, but she and the other guards stopped moving when the sound of footsteps reached their ears.

"Take heed!" Phoenix joked when he noticed they suddenly straightened their backs.

Narsil fought the urge to roll with her eyes but made a reverence for the King who climbed back on his throne. How he managed to do that without tripping over his robes, Narsil had no idea.

"And at ease!" Phoenix shouted when his father sat. Melwin shoved his shoulder, and he rubbed the sore spot while shooting an angry glare at her.

Thranduil ignored his son's silliness. "Yes?" Was the only thing he said while studying his finger nails.

Caladhiel, Narsil and Arianeth stared at Abendago who felt because of that, forced to do a few steps forward. He stared at the points of his shoes, avoiding all of the looks that were given to him.

"I'm here to apologise," Abendago mumbled and Thranduil fixated his piercing blue eyes at the Dwarf.

"I am sorry, I did not quite catch that. You will have to speak louder, Dwarf."

Abendago took a deep breath and tore his gaze away from his shoes. "I am sorry I called you a dollop head," he said a bit louder.

Thranduil raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was expecting more to hear from Abendago. But the Dwarf looked everywhere, except at the Elven King. Soon, Thranduil realised he was not getting more out of the Dwarf.

"Apologies not accepted. Bring him back to the cells."

But halfway through that sentence, Abendago had already started to protest. "No, no, no. I am sorry, King Thranduil. It won't happen again. We would appreciate it if we may continue our way." He quickly glanced at Arianeth, but immediately regretted that as her eyes were spitting fire. She looked as if she was going to beat him up as soon as she got the chance. He gulped and looked back the King, who was examining both of their faces.

Thranduil uttered a long and dramatic sigh. "Fine. Off you go. It would be best if I don't see you for a long, long time, Abendago."

Abendago wanted to argue that that would be impossible, since he had to cross these woods again if he wanted to return to Erebor, but he realised it would be best if he just nodded. Arianeth grabbed his shoulder and forced a smile on her face.

"A pleasure, as always, King Thranduil." Obviously, that was a lie, but unlike Abendago, Arianeth knew how to be polite.

Caladhiel and Narsil gave Abendago back his belongings and Arianeth started to drag the Dwarf along with her. But just before they could reach the huge, stone doors, a sudden change in the air made Arianeth falter in her pass.

Abendago gave her a confused look, but she was too much lost in thought to notice it. The Shade was on the move. Arianeth let go of his shoulder and folded her hands together behind her back, while studying the trees that could be seen through the entrance.

"I think," she started, "it would be best if we stay here." It was coming their way. When they first had started their adventure, Arianeth had told Abendago they were going to hunt some Orcs, but Abendago had already soon understood that this quest was something more than just hunting some foul creatures.

But nonetheless, Abendago's jaw dropped. He didn't know the fine details of the quest but really? All this commotion to get away from here, and now she wanted to stay? "Yeah, no. I do not think Thrandy is going to like that," he protested.

Arianeth ignored him, again, and turned back around. Abendago was about to follow her but she told him he had to stay here. The Elven King would probably only listen to her if Abendago wasn't there.

Caladhiel and Narsil who both stood guard by the King's Halls, drew some suprised expressions when they saw Arianeth returning, but they let her through anyway.

How the Maia managed to convince Thranduil to let them stay, we do not know. All we know is we should be glad that he agreed with Arianeth.

~*~*~*~*~

Elrohir crossed eyes with his brother, Elladan. He hesitated what they should do. Waiting here for their opponents?

Livianna and Norin were still assuring the stranger that no harm could befall him while they were here. They would protect him.

That's also when Elrohir remember he had made a promise to his father: he would protect his sisters. The time to fight these creatures was not today. He could not take the risk, what if somebody got hurt? No. They would not fight them. Not today.

"We should get moving," Elrohir announced, swinging his bow back over his shoulder.

Elladan frowned, but Elrohir insisted by shaking his head.

Ayleen was about to protest, surely they could take them on, right? But as she looked back over her shoulder, she saw the Hobbits and understood what Elrohir meant.

Within seconds, everyone had assembled their gear and Aragorn opened the secret door with the password.

Call's eyes grew big in bewilderment, but didn't say anything as the others told him he had to follow them.

Elrohir and Aragorn decided they would inform the dwarves about these creatures, so that they could keep an eye out for them. Perhaps this was even better; a Dwarven army was stronger than the twelve of them, after all.

With a soft thud, the stone door closed behind them and Victoria couldn't help but to fear for their horses. What if they walked right into the things that Call had encountered? Varonwe noticed she was still standing there, staring at the rocks while the others set course towards Khazad-dûm.

"They'll be fine," he reassured her, knowing what she was thinking. "Elrohir's and Elladan's are smart horses. Some even say they have Mearas' blood running in their veins. They'll take care of the others."

Victoria sighed and nodded. It was out of her hands now, the only thing she could do now, was having faith. She smiled up to the kind Ranger and turned around to follow the rest of the company.

Soon, they would behold the great mines of Moria.

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: New cover! I'm quite proud of it, although the font style could have been a bit more clearer, but, ah well... Maybe I'll change that some other time.

Question of the chapter: who's your favourite character in the Lord of the Rings? I'm curious :)

Mine is Aragorn.